Panasonic Dmc-zs8 Best Buy
The thing is, the ZS8's photo quality is just as good as, if not slightly better than, the ZS10's. If you were concerned that getting the less expensive model would mean sacrificing image quality, don't be. With plenty of light, the ZS8 can turn out very good photos, if a little soft. The color noise that I'm used to seeing from Panasonic's cameras isn't as prevalent in the ZS8's images. Don't get me wrong, it's still there and certainly visible at its highest full-resolution sensitivity, ISO 1,600, but it's just not as bad with this camera. Regardless, the ZS8 is best suited for daylight outdoor use or brightly lit indoor use. Photos at or below ISO 200 can stand up to some cropping or larger prints, but low-light/high-ISO photos are best left for small prints and Web use.
panasonic dmc-zs8 best buy
For automatic shooting there is the company's Intelligent Auto, which combines an ever-growing number of technologies to get the best results. Overall, it works very well, but photos can end up appearing overprocessed when viewed at full size. There are 29 scene modes for those times when you want to get specific with your auto shooting, and you can store two favorites assigned to MySCN spots on the mode dial. For the most part they are the ones you'd find on any point-and-shoot, but there are a few artistic modes like High Dynamic and Pinhole. There is an Underwater mode as well, but you'll need a casing if you want to get the ZS8 wet, as it's not waterproof.
As mentioned earlier, the ZS8's shooting performance is speedy, it's just not as fast as the ZS10's. And really that's only noticeable with the continuous burst shooting. The ZS8's shutter lag--how quickly a camera captures an image after the shutter-release button is pressed--is low, at 0.4 second in bright lighting and 0.8 second in dim conditions. It goes from off to first shot in 1.5 seconds with a 1.4-second shot-to-shot time; using the flash extends that to just 2.1 seconds. As for burst shooting, it can capture up to three shots at its best quality at 1.5 frames per second. That's with focus and exposure set with the first shot. The ZS10 is about twice as fast with autofocus on every shot; without AF it can do 15fps.
I bought the Lumix zs-10 knowing its image quality apparently wasn't up to snuff but loved the zoom and shot to shot performance, gps and other features. I subsequently set out to try the different modes to find the best picture taking mode comparing intelligent auto 14 megapixel to P mode pictures with 10 MP vs P mode with 7 MP vs intelligent auto with 5 MP (I chose these modes b/c they all shoot in the 4:3 ratio. I did the tests on a tripod. I opened the pictures in a Paintbrush for Mac. The 5 MP pictures revealed significantly better detail than the rest of the aforementioned settings. Next best was the 7 MP then 10 and last was the 14 MP pics. I then tested the zoom for details and again found the 5 MP pictures to be best although not as strikingly better than the 7 and 10 MP as compared to the wide angle shots. The 14 MP pictures in the zoom remained the worst. Also the iA movie mode performs better than the P movie mode. In particular dark areas show up much better with iA mode.
Above $2500 cameras tend to become increasingly specialized, making it difficult to select a 'best' option. We case our eye over the options costing more than $2500 but less than $4000, to find the best all-rounder.
What's the best camera for shooting sports and action? Fast continuous shooting, reliable autofocus and great battery life are just three of the most important factors. In this buying guide we've rounded-up several great cameras for shooting sports and action, and recommended the best.
The highest video resolution in the Panasonic ZS8 is 1280 x 720 and it can shoot in MPEG-4 format. 720p is low by today's requirements. You should really go for a minimum FUll HD resolution for good video. The camera doesn't include a mic or headphone socket which means you get little control over your sound. It is perhaps best to shop for an alternative camera if you require decent sound in your video clips. 041b061a72